Valentine’s Greeting Card (1940s-1950s), Paper Novelty Manufacturing Company Ltd. Canadian Museum of History, 2008.58.50.10.
The latest in blog posts, news, and podcasts from the world of Canadian history.
Missed last week’s roundup? Check it out here.
- Active History has just relaunched! They have a great new look and are now accepting donations!
- The Junto continued its roundtable on fashion history this week, and several of their posts will be of interest to Canadian Historians, including
- Chelsea Vowel posted a Youtube video of her talk on Indigenization in the Time of Pipelines, and also provides some suggestions on other talks you might be interested in regarding the subject of Indigenous peoples and Indigenization.
- The Haunted Montreal Blog is back with their monthly post! Their latest article looks at the history of Stanley Street, the former centre of Montreal’s Gay Village.
- This article is about a really cool project being run by a history course out of Concordia. Students have been tasked with organizing the archival collection of the former Negro Community Centre of Montreal. Though, as archivist Janice Rosen mentioned on my Facebook feed, their lack of training in archival science is a bit problematic.
- I’ve mentioned Joanne Hammond previously on the blog, but for those who aren’t aware, Hammond is an archaeologist who is most well known for her work in decolonizing BC’s “stop of interest signs.” The CBC did on article on her just this week! Also this week,
- Hammond posted a Twitter Essay about why her work is so important. It’s a definite must-read.
- She has also posted another Twitter Essay describing how teachers and the media can participate in reconciliation through the teaching of Indigenous history. If you teach Canadian history, you need to read this essay.
- February 15th was the anniversary of the adoption of the current Canadian Flag. Queen’s Archives decided to celebrate by showing how they have the earliest-known cheesecloth prototype of the flag. You do you, Queen’s Archives.
- The Watson blog also had a blog post out this week about the flag debate and the development of our current design.
- Adam Gaudry explains why celebrating George Stanley, the designer of the Canadian flag is so problematic, especially considering his attitudes towards the Métis.
- Greg Marquis has written the latest blog post from Acadiensis on using contemporary crime in Canada as an area of research.
- Sarah Shulist has a fantastic and must-read blog post about the role that colonization has played with respect to Indigenous languages. She focuses particularly on dominant narratives about how Indigenous languages are being “lost,” and why such discourse is so problematic.
- It’s not strictly Canadian, but this week the UBC Digitizer’s blog looks at love and croquet.
- The Graphic History Collective has posted their second Poster! This latest, by Naomi Moyer, tells the story of Chloe Cooley, the woman who inspired the abolition of slavery in Upper Canada. Funké Aladejebi has written an accompanying text explaining Cooley’s story as well as a brief history of slavery in Canada.
- So a cool thing happened: BC Heritage Fairs has declared Unwritten Histories their February Blog of the Month!
- LAC has posted their monthly update on the digitization of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Personnel Service Files.
- The Jewish Public Library, along with the Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives, has just launched a brand new online exhibition about the history of Jews in Quebec.
- Facing Canada has just posted a new lesson plan from Kristen Drury on challenging institutionalized racism, particularly with respect to Indigenous peoples. While the plan was developed for high schoolers, I can easily see this being adapted for use in university.
- The latest blog post from the Canadian Museum of History is by Matthew Betts, who talks about the end of the E’se’get Archaeological Project and some of their more important findings.
- Claire Campbell is back with another post on NiCHE. This latest focuses on the Berger Report on the impact of a pipeline in the Mackenzie Valley in BC. The Berger Report turns 40 this year, and Campbell discusses how it could be used as part of an active learning activity in a classroom.
- This week the Retroactive Blog takes a look at Black Settlers in the Amber Valley.
- Algoma University recently profiled Krista McCracken and Skylee-Storm Hogan!
- The Black Perspectives Blog has a new post this week by Janell Hobson on pictorial representations of Harriet Tubman. In particular, Hobson discusses the iconography around Tubman, and her role in her creating her own image. While Tubman is most frequently associated with the United States, she spent a great deal of time in Canada as well.
- This week on Active History, they have a new post from Tom Hooper exploring the policing of gay sex in Toronto Parks from the 1970s to the present.
- LAC has also just announced that it has transcribed several paper-based finding aids, including finding aids relating to the RCMP, the Supreme Court, and the Canadian Hydrographic Service.
- The Nova Scotia Museum has just launched a new online exhibit featuring their ethnology collection, including a substantial collection of Mi’kmaq artefacts. The collection is just amazing, and I’m dying to use it in a classroom.
- This week the DCB’s new biography belongs to Joseph Emanuel Armstrong, an Ontario politician.
- McGill has partnered with the Medical Heritage Library to digitized and make available some of their material from the Osler collection. Sir William Osler was a noted Canadian physician, and the McGill medical history library bears his name. It’s also one of the coolest libraries I’ve ever seen. They basically dismantled Osler’s original library and reconstructed it exactly in its new location in the medical building.
- The Laurier Centre has just announced a new research initiative called the Canadian Foreign Intelligence History Project. The focal point of the project will be the creation of a database of declassified topics relating to foreign intelligence in Canada.
- Kandace Bogaert has a fantastic blog post over at Arcadia on the subject of venereal disease in the Canadian Expeditionary Force of WW1. The posters are fantastic.
- The Nova Scotia Archives has a new post about the Board Landing Bridge, which connected Onslow to Lower Truro.
- This week on Unwritten Histories was the latest post in our monthly review of the latest scholarly journal articles on the subject of Canadian history. Find out which ones were my favourites from January 2017!
- Bill Waiser is back with another new blog post on the subject of female homesteaders in Manitoba and the central role that women played in farming on the prairies.
- The Retroactive blog remembered the Leduc No. 1 Oil Discovery, which took place 70 years ago, signalling the beginning of the modern oil industry in Alberta.
- The CBC also did a feature on the Leduc No. 1, which you can read here.
- Christine Jack is the author of the latest blog post from the Atlantic Loyalist Connection, which examines Black refugees who escaped slavery during the War of 1812. Jack focuses specifically on one group that took refuge at Hammonds Plains. Though they had escaped slavery, they were forced to live on in abysmal conditions with little aid.
- This week the Canadian Centre for the Great War looked at soldiers missing in action, how the designation worked, and why it was used.
- BAnQ’s blog, INSTANTANÉS, looked at the Christie V. York affair, which occurred in Montreal in 1936. Fred Christie was a Black chauffeur who was refused service at a local bar. Christie took the bar owner to court, but lost.
- The Toronto Public Library Blog remembers the 1890 fire at the University of Toronto.
- Harold Bérubé is back with a new post on his series about Montreal’s 300th anniversary celebrations. In this latest post, he looks at the events of February 1942.
- I also missed his post from last week, which looked at January 12th, 1942, and opposition to the celebrations.
- Gail Dever has some new information about the one-place study of Valcartier, Quebec.
- The ROM is back with another Throwback Thursday. This latest post looks at Dorothy Burnham’s work on setting up looms and weaving.
- Check out this must-watch video of Sarah Nickel talking about doing Indigenous history without marginalization Indigenous voices. I just love her work.
- Also this week on Unwritten Histories, I posted my monthly preview of new publications in Canadian history for March 2017.
- The Techs in the City blog takes a look at the latest exhibit from the Toronto Reference Library called “Vice and Virtue,” on the darker side of Toronto’s history. This blog post showcases some of the artefacts from the exhibit, which is also available virtually.
- Whistorical has a relatively short blog post this week about manufacturing in Whistler, a preview of an upcoming talk.
- On Saturday, Borealia posted a special blog post from Stephen Hay about Danny Vickers. Hay was a student of Vickers, and speaks about his contributions to the academic community.
- Eve Lazarus shares some images of Vancouver from the 1970s.
- It seems like the Canadian Centre for the Great War has started a new podcast! The podcast focuses on the relationship between Harry William White and Bessie Atkinson, who fell in love during WW1.
- Christopher Ryan discusses the construction of two subways in the Junction Triangle neighbourhood of Toronto.
- You should definitely check out this great Twitter essay from Adele Perry about why it is problematic to think the acknowledgment of the important role that Indigenous people have played in the past and the present is a new phenomenon. It’s not.
- Canadian History in the News
- USA Today did a feature on the SHADD Biographies Project at York University, which is in the process of collecting biographies and life stories from individuals from Africa, the Caribbean, and South America, who were brought to North America as slaves. All of this information will be freely available to the public in a database in 2018.
- A Black history group in Alberta is interviewing the descendants of elderly Black settlers.
- This article provides more detailed information about the project and some great stories.
- There is a new documentary in the works about Canada’s movie theatres.
- Hell froze over, and an Ontario Superior Court Judge ruled in favour of survivors of the Sixties Scoop. Yay!!!
- CBC interviewed a number of survivors about the verdict as well.
- Pier 21 has a new exhibit honouring the experiences of Black Canadian soldiers in WW1. This news article provides a behind-the-scenes look at the exhibit, and showcases some of the artefacts.
- A new report is out showing how knowledge of Canada’s colonial history would play a central role in helping Indigenous youth.
- Indigenous leaders are calling on the federal government to remove the name of Hector-Louis Langevin, who played a central role in establishing the residential school system, from the Langevin block of Parliament.
- Adrian Duke, a member of the Muscowpetung Nation is developing a new augmented reality app that will share Indigenous stories in various locations around Vancouver. The app is called Wikiupedia, and works essentially like Pokemon Go, only you are collecting stories rather than pokemon. Which sounds way more interesting, at least to me.
- There is new evidence out about one of the early epidemics brought by European settlers to Mexico that devastated the Aztec. The latest genetic research suggests that the disease in question was salmonella. However, it’s important to point out that by blaming a disease we ignore the important role that settlers themselves played in bringing the deadly bacteria and spreading it.
- Watch Afua Cooper talk about the history of slavery in Canada and the story of Marie-Joseph Angelique!
- Items from Sandy Cove’s tiny Women’s March of just fifteen people are now part of the Nova Scotia Museum Collection.
- 90 years after Mi’kmaq leader Grand Chief Gabriel Sylliboy was wrongfully convicted of hunting out of season, he was finally pardoned posthumously by the Nova Scotia government.
- I’ve been debating whether to include this or not…. but The Guardian has an article this week about Geraldine Moodie, the first female professional photographer in Western Canada. She was especially well known for her images of the Inuit. The reason I hesitated to post this is that these images are problematic in the sense that few of the individuals featured are named. This isn’t journalism or anthropology, it’s othering and voyeuristic. Further, Moodie benefitted professionally and financially from these photos, while those featured did not.
- CTV seems to be suggesting that there is a Canadian connection to Downton Abbey. It’s tenuous at best, and I’m more than a little skeptical.
- CBC’s Early Edition is launching a new radio series exploring the history of five different intersections in Vancouver. Sounds fascinating!
- Allister Barton’s quest to discover his family history has shed light on the history of Black Loyalists who were not listed in “The Book of Negroes.” That’s the original historical document, not the novel.
- There is a new study out in the journal Human Ecology about the evolution of fishhooks among the Tlingit and Haida peoples. The coolest part for me is that the study’s author is sharing his findings with Tlingit and Haida communities, though I am curious to know if anyone from either community participated in his original study. My guess is no, since he used mostly museum artefacts.
- Canadian Geographic spoke with Charlene Bearhead about the role that education plays in reconciliation.
- Find out a little bit about Canadian aviation training camps from WW1 in this article about Desertonto’s Camp Rathburn.
- The Torontoist’s series Now and Then, which focuses on Toronto’s historic plaques, discusses Draper Street this week, the birthplace Lincoln Alexander, Canada’s first black MP.
- Read Jesse Wente’s closing keynote speech from the Prime Time 2017 conference, about the representation of Indigenous stories in Canadian cinema.
- This week, public school teachers in Ottawa spent an entire PD day learning about Indigenous culture and issues.
- Radio Canada remembers the mystery of the “Mad Trapper.” If you like true crime stories, you’ll love this one.
- Better Late Than Never
- Donna McKinnon, writing for the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta, discusses the history of Black Canadians in Alberta.
- Check out this really neat virtual exhibit that tells the story of Wassy and Eddie Trudeau’s marriage. It’s absolutely adorable.
- Kai Minosh has a wonderful article about the important roles that women have played in Métis history, beginning with her own grandmother.
- NPR reported that climate change was likely an important factor in the decline of Cahokia. The Mississippian Civilization, which was centred at Cahokia, was a centre for trade as well as political and social culture in North America around the year 1000 C.E., and it would have a tremendous influence on the development of Indigenous groups that are the ancestors of our current Indigenous peoples.
It seems like it was a relatively quiet week in Canadian history this week. I hope you enjoyed the latest roundup. Don’t forget to check back on Tuesday for a special blog post. Spoiler: it’s another resource guide! See you then!
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